Biography
Cuban born, Aida immigrated to the US in 1968 at the age of three. She grew up in Elizabeth, NJ, where her family settled. From a young age, Aida loved to draw and began to paint as an undergraduate while attending Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. She flourished in the art school environment and was considered a true "painter's painter" by her peers, receiving a BFA degree in 1990 from New Jersey City University.
Aida’s work with color was exhibited in several regional, national and international exhibits throughout the US and Tri-State area of NY, NJ and PA; the National Works on Paper 2024 exhibit held at Long Beach Island Foundation of Arts and Sciences NJ in 2024; the 47th International Watermedia Exhibit at WASH-H in Houston, Texas 2023, receiving a merit award; the 22nd and 23rd National Adirondack Exhibit of American Watercolors 2023 and 2024.
Aida has given workshops and demos for the Garden State Watercolor Society, Warren County Arts NJ and AOY Art Center, in Yardley, PA. She also instructed adults in a six week class at AOY too. She paints in her home studio in High Bridge, NJ, where she has lived with her husband since 1997, having raised two daughters.
Artist Statement
Maybe no two people see or feel color the same way? Color is a perceived reality, a fantasy of communication between the eye and the soul. Color works as rhythm and wavelength. Color changes desire and emotion. It can be simultaneously harmonious and discordant, like green against red, yellow beside violet. Like a musical composition it may blend without confrontation. I see color and hear music together. Composers/musicians experience variations of instrumental voices while playing and writing music. Some visual artists can hear and see music when working in color. I make abstract expressionist paintings that have a sort of allegro and crescendo, forte or piano quality.
Zen Sumi-e INK painting continues to influence how I draw and paint. Paintings are made with line and brush strokes that are simultaneously gestures and shapes. Black and white, positive and negative space make for harmonious mystical work. My works are inspired through meditation of nature. Strong compositions are made with a less is more mindset. Sumi-e painting is an Egoless art form created by Buddhist monks in China and adapted by Zen Buddhist monks from Japan. It has profoundly influenced modern art. 
Ale, Winged Spirit
Sumi-e INK on Xuan Rice paper
La Vida es un Carnaval
Acrylic on Canvas